There was a man who carved a totem out of cedar – he made it in the shape of a raven and when he had finished, it began to speak. It told him that whenever he wanted to know the truth about something, he had only to ask and the truth would be revealed to him. So, the man did – and over time, it became his habit to return to the totem to ask about whatever troubled him. He came to have great faith in its words.

Then one day, as he approached the totem it said, “Look at me now,” and it removed a raven mask to reveal the face of a wolf.

The man stepped back in surprise.

“There, there,” the totem said reassuringly, “watch now…” and it removed a wolf mask to reveal the face of a raven. “It’s really me after all,” it said.

The man blinked and asked, “Why did you do that?”

“So that you would know that it is really me and not a deceiver who is revealing the truth to you,” said the totem.

The man blinked again and was speechless.